The arrogance of the government as displayed by the MP for Tobago East is unacceptable and she must be reprimanded by the Prime Minister. Heads should also roll at the Port and, if the buck stops with the Minister, he too must take responsibility.

This collapse has been going on for almost a year and the long suffering people of Tobago have been treated with disrespect and a total lack of caring for their well-being: be it business-people who have seen their businesses failing; or workers who have been retrenched or had their pay-packets cut; or citizens who have to travel to Trinidad to conduct their affairs. In addition, many Trinidadians have been reluctant to travel to Tobago given the difficulties they are likely to encounter.

On coming into office in September 2015, the PNM government ought to have put in place a plan of action that would have ensured that the sea (and air) bridge worked smoothly, efficiently and safely. Instead the country has witnessed incompetence, political interference and ad-hoc – vie-kiey-vie – decision making. The last such examples have been: the use of Caribbean Airlines and then LIAT to fly holders of confirmed fast ferry tickets between the islands; and to use the water taxis, which are unsuitable for inter-island use given the sea conditions as fast ferries.  

The former decision is at considerable cost to taxpayers; while the latter puts the lives of passengers at risk – as evidenced by yesterday’s breakdown which required an at sea rescue. There will also be the cost of repairs to the water taxi and the loss of this service for persons who use it to travel between San Fernando and Port of Spain.

The MSJ reiterates its position of August 2017: the several investigations into the sea-bridge collapse - the hearings of the Joint Select Committee of Parliament; the one-man Christian Mouttet investigation; the Integrity Commission probe – would all amount to a big fat zero. The MSJ had instead proposed the appointment of a Special Prosecutor adequately resourced to investigate whether there was any corruption involved in the contracting/terminating of the Super-Fast Galicia and the procurement of the Cabo Star and Ocean Flower 2. This Special prosecutor should also now investigate the purchase of the Galleons Passage.

This entire debacle also points to the failure of how persons are appointed to Boards and to manage state enterprises and other statutory bodies. The MSJ proposes as a solution that all Board appointments be non-political with persons drawn from a pool of nominees by nationally recognized professional bodies and civil society organisations. Boards should be appointed for terms of three years but eligible for re-appointment in such a rotational manner as to ensure that there is continuity of at least half the members; and that further these Board members are not subject to change based on the five year electoral cycle of the country. We must create stability of our institutions and proper long term planning and decision-making

David Abdulah

Political Leader